Title |
Creating a communication system from scratch: gesture beats vocalization hands down
|
---|---|
Published in |
Frontiers in Psychology, April 2014
|
DOI | 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00354 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Nicolas Fay, Casey J. Lister, T. Mark Ellison, Susan Goldin-Meadow |
Abstract |
How does modality affect people's ability to create a communication system from scratch? The present study experimentally tests this question by having pairs of participants communicate a range of pre-specified items (emotions, actions, objects) over a series of trials to a partner using either non-linguistic vocalization, gesture or a combination of the two. Gesture-alone outperformed vocalization-alone, both in terms of successful communication and in terms of the creation of an inventory of sign-meaning mappings shared within a dyad (i.e., sign alignment). Combining vocalization with gesture did not improve performance beyond gesture-alone. In fact, for action items, gesture-alone was a more successful means of communication than the combined modalities. When people do not share a system for communication they can quickly create one, and gesture is the best means of doing so. |
X Demographics
As of 1 July 2024, you may notice a temporary increase in the numbers of X profiles with Unknown location. Click here to learn more.
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Canada | 1 | 6% |
Unknown | 17 | 94% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Scientists | 10 | 56% |
Members of the public | 8 | 44% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Portugal | 1 | 1% |
Cyprus | 1 | 1% |
Netherlands | 1 | 1% |
United Kingdom | 1 | 1% |
Spain | 1 | 1% |
United States | 1 | 1% |
Unknown | 72 | 92% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Ph. D. Student | 16 | 21% |
Student > Master | 15 | 19% |
Researcher | 9 | 12% |
Professor | 5 | 6% |
Student > Bachelor | 5 | 6% |
Other | 18 | 23% |
Unknown | 10 | 13% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Psychology | 23 | 29% |
Linguistics | 12 | 15% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 9 | 12% |
Computer Science | 8 | 10% |
Arts and Humanities | 5 | 6% |
Other | 10 | 13% |
Unknown | 11 | 14% |